The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1887-03-11
Mouse River Cattle Raising.

For several years more or less has been
Known of the Mouse River and The region
which il waters. All sorts of stories, iav
orable or otherwise. have been circulated
about It's general features. The building,
the past SIMMER. of a new line of railway,
that of the st. Paul, Minneapolis e. Mann
toba, through its center, HIS rendered 4,
easily accessible 10 the country, aud open.
cd up a great exlent of land, which is
adapted in every way to stock RAISING and
inixed farming The Mouse River Is a
curious stream. and with its surrounding
country, is well calculated 10 arouse inter.
ests Rising way up in the British Ameri
on. it crosses tho international boundary,
and after coursing through North Dakota
forming an immeusc OK bow. perhaps 100
miles long and Is wide. it re enters the
Queens dominions.
Heavy timber, such as oak, ash, apen,
box-elder, AMI oiher varieties, line its banks.
Below the the post"ilicc of Willard, in Nc.
Henry county. It's valley j. wide and often
not well defined. Above that point the
encompassing hills become much higher,
and the stream flows from $50 to 200 feet
below the general surface of the country.
The quality of the land will average well
with that OF any part of North Dakota Or
of the country. Perhaps one twentieth OF
TUG region is .ccupie. By sand hills, 50
called, covered with grass and timber and
oil the greatest value us winter range pro-
lection for the thousands of head of cattle
and horses which already Craze among
them. 1t is but four years since the country
was first known to possess superior advan-
tages for stock raising and that interest
has developed now so rapidly that recent
estimate places the number OF Cattle on its
ranges at not less than 10000 head, and OF
horses at 5000 head, as well rs numbers
Of swine and sheep.
There are few ranchmen conducting
operations on large scale, but the MAORI
ty are small farmers having herds of from
30 to $50 head These are located along
the river, where the stock has heretofore
been fed and ranged without other pro-
lection than the woods during the winter
months. Now il is found that The sand
hills are better than the river timber and
many cattle will range during winter in
the valleys between their timbered slopes
almost without feed from the stack. The
hills with their heavy coat of grass. thick
rush beds and sheltered groves, offer
paradise for stock raising for the small
farmer. Tracts of natural hay meadow
are frequent all through this region, al
though provision is always made for win
ter feed 1t is more precautionary than
anything else, for. except when the snow
is unusually heavy. which rarely happens.
stock Craze more or less on the open until
the last of February or in early March.
The. climate can be called the chief advan-
tagc of the country for stock raising, the
summers being about the same temperature
Of the most noted stock raising regions OF
the Old World, and the winters cold. sum
NY and bright 1t is this cold. combined
with the absence of high humidity, that
gives the Mouse River country such adj
vantages of stock raising over more humid
and warmer localities, for the natural hab-
itation of all our useful domestic animals,
the horse, OK and sheep, is in region
having precisely the same climate as this
the steppes and plains Of Central Asia,
North of latitude AZ degrees Probably
more cattle range on these unsheltered
plains today than In America. Atkinson,
in his travels, mentions the tens Of thous
ands OF head grazing around the steppes
which surround Lake Baikal. in latitude
SO. The produce of these herds at matur-
ity arc driven TO that great cattle market,
Ekaterinbourg, where hundreds of thous-
ands Of cattle arc slaughtered annually.
Catue raising has passed the experimental
stage in the Mouse River country, and for
that matter, all through North Dakota 1t
will seem almost incredible to stockmcn in
the corn belt" that cattle and horses are
grown and fattened on the Mouse River
on hay alone. but such is the fact Stock
raisers down East and in the corn belt"
who can't accomplish the ssme results,
must remember that their climate is too
warm and moist for cattle TO derive the
same benefit from given amount OF feed,
warm climate being naturally unfavor-
able for healthy aud natural secretions,
and the moist air peculiar to the Eastern
and Southern States. causing too rapid
radiation of animal heat making the chilly
sensations, which affect animals as we'll as
man, and preventing the best results from
being obtained. At any rate the surplus
from the Mouse Rivcrrange furnish nearly
sill of North Dakota with beef, and Devils
Lake butchers say that cut from a
Mouse River 3 year-old, fed altogether on
hay. is the best quality to be had-St.
Paul Pioneer Press.
CONGRESSIONAL